Tag Archives: correspondant

Crosby campaigner travels to parliament to ask MPs important questions before the general election

Local campaigner Peter Firth travelled from Crosby to Westminster to speak with MPs in Parliament to ensure the interests of the world’s poorest people will be kept in mind during the upcoming general election.

On Monday 24 April, sixty supporters of the aid agency CAFOD travelled from across the country to meet with MPs from different political parties at Speaker’s House in Parliament. Peter met with MPs to speak about maintaining commitments to supporting people living in poverty through UK aid and action to tackle climate change.

Peter said: “The reason why the UK should continue investing 0.7% in the aid budget really came home tonight. I have been critical, thinking that the money gets wasted and goes to intermediaries but I have been convinced today.

“It is not just about prestige, not even about the money but the investment projects the UK as a caring and passionate society. We are very lucky, and we should share that.”

CAFOD campaigner Peter Firth (Right)

Commons Speaker the Rt Hon John Bercow MP told the reception:“For my part, I always think the greatest moral challenge of our times is to try to do something about the gross crisis and disfiguring scar of global poverty.

“The fact that 1,000 million people around the world exist on less than a dollar a day and very, very, very large numbers of people besides exist on only moderately more than that is, frankly, a source not only of anxiety but of real shame to us all.”

Commons Speaker the Rt Hon John Bercow MP

The campaigners who attended the Parliamentary reception are CAFOD ‘MP Correspondents’, supporters who write to MPs on international development issues such as the impact of climate change and trade practices.

CAFOD is encouraging Catholics to ask election candidates to support UK commitments on tackling poverty overseas and climate change, as well as working to ensure that Britain remains an outward-looking and welcoming nation.

Neil Thorns, CAFOD’s Director of Advocacy, said: “It is so great to see local constituents raising their voices before the general election and making their local political representatives aware of issues that are important to them.

“Pope Francis himself warns that people living in poverty can often be an ‘afterthought’ in political discussions and that’s why it’s so important that we remind candidates of the need to remain an outward-looking nation – one that cares for the interests of people in the world’s poorest communities.

“This is why the commitment to maintaining UK support for overseas aid is crucial for saving lives and pulling people out of poverty.”